Door



April 12, 1966 T. MADLAND 3,245,125

DOOR

Filed July 6, 1964 e Sheets-Sheet 1 52 FIG.I

INVENTOR. ORVALD MADLAND ATTORNEYS T. MADLAND April 12, 1966 DOOR 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 6, 1964 INVENTOR. THORVALD MADLAND 3517 a 7% ATTORNEYS T. MADLAND April 12, 1966 DOOR 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 6, 1964 TH ORVALD MADLAN D Jwa 7% ATTORNEYS T. MADLAND April 12, 1966 DOOR 6 Sheets-Sheet 4.

Filed July 6, 1964 INVENTOR. THORVALD MADLAND FIG. 7

ATTORNEYS April 12,- 1966 T. MADLAND I DOOR 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 6, 1964 INVENTOR. THORVALD MADLAND jc ya 79y ATTORNEYS T. MADLAND April 12, 1966 DOOR 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed July 6, 1964 INVENTOR.

THORVALD MADLAND FIG. 9

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,245,125 DOQR Thorvald Madland, Arlington Heights, Ill., assignor to The Youngstown Steel Door Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed .luly 6, 1964, Ser. No. 380,564 Claims. (Cl. 23)

This invention relates to doors for railroad cars and, more particularly, to a construction and arrangement of doors adapted to close wide door openings in the side of railroad cars.

Railroad cars have been designed which incorporate a door opening wider than that which is found in the conventional railroad car. The wider door opening is provided in a car with a view to obtaining greater flexibility in the uses to which the car may be put. Thus, the usual relatively narrow door opening inhibits the loading of extremely bulky items in the average box car. To facilitate the handling of such bulky items, the wider opening is provided.

In order to close such a wide opening, it is the usual practice to provide a pair of doors which slide on the door rails in opposite directions to expose the door opening. To achieve the greatest flexibility for the car, it is necessary that these double doors be designed to withstand the internal pressures exerted by lading in the nature of grain as well as to facilitate the loading of bulky materials.

Such a diverse range of applications has presented problems in the mounting of the doors, their interrelationship in the closed position, and the provision of suitable means to secure the doors in the opening and withstand any internal pressures exerted by the lading. By utilization of the principles of this invention, the latter problem has been substantially reduced.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved locking mechanism for double doors in a railroad car.

It is a further object of this invention to provide double doors for a railroad car having a Wide door opening wherein the doors are laterally movable and longitudinally slidable and wherein the mating edges of the doors are interlocked.

Still another object of this invention is to provide double doors for a box car having a wide door opening wherein the doors are laterally movable and longitudinally slidable to expose the door opening and the vertical margin of one of the doors is, in the closed position, locked at the top and bottom margin thereof to the wall of the box car.

A further object of the invention is to provide double doors adapted to enclose a Wide door opening in the side of a box car and wherein the doors are securely locked to the side wall of the box car, with the locking mechanism being operated from the conventional operating mechanism for laterally displacing the doors from the door opening.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a main door and an auxiliary door for closing a Wide door opening in the side of a box car wherein the vertical edge of the auxiliary door adjacent to the main door is, in the closed position thereof, locked at the top and bottom portions to the side of the railroad car and the adjacent edge of the main door is locked to the said vertical edge of the auxiliary door.

Another specific object of the invention relates to the provision of an auxiliary door for the double door combination wherein the auxiliary door includes an auxiliary upper .and lower locking mechanism, with the locking mechanism being operatively connected to the rotatable pipes mounting the door on the car.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a locking device for an auxiliary door in a double door combination wherein timing means are provided to control the locking movements of the auxiliary locking mechanism as the door is opened and closed.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related objects and ends, the following description sets forth in detail a few approved means of carrying out the invention. Such disclosed means are not meant to be limiting inasmuch as they constitute but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be applied.

In the drawings wherein like reference numerals indicate like parts in the various views:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a double door combination incorporating the principles of the instant invention.

FIGS. 2, 2A and 2B are consecutive portions of a view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view taken along line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. -4 is a view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the mechanism for controlling the movement of the auxiliary lock with the door in the locked position.

FIG. 6 is a view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a view of the mechanism illustrated in FIG. 5 with the door in the unlocked position.

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing an alternative embodiment of the auxiliary locking mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing a further modification of the auxiliary locking mechanism.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings wherein the preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated, the numeral 10 indicates the side wall of a conventional railroad car. The car includes a wide door opening 11 which requires two doors to close it. The door opening 11 is closed by a pair of doors 12 and 13, with the door 12 being referred to as the main door and the door 13 as the auxiliary door.

The main door 12 is of a suitable metallic panel construction and is supported by rotatable pipes 14, 15. Upper and lower cranks 16, 17 are secured to the respective upper and lower ends of the pipe 14. Similar cranks 18, 19 are secured to the upper and lower ends of the rotatable pipe 15. The upper cranks 16, 18 extend upwardly behind a retaining and guiding member 20 which is secured to the side wall of the railroad car and serves to retain and guide the door in its sliding movement longitudinally of the car. The lower cranks 17, 19 are mounted on rollers or roller carriages 21, with the carriages being slidably mounted on a track 22 which extends longitudinally of the railroad car.

A stop member 23 is provided at the one edge of the main door 12 and serves to position the door in the door opening 11. A similar stop member 24 is provided at the upper marginal edge of the main door 12.

Levers 25, 26 are secured by clevises 27, 28 to the pipes 14, 15 respectively whereby upon rotation of each of the levers 25, 26, the door may be displaced laterally from the door opening in a manner which is believed to be self-evident.

As is apparent from an inspection of FIG. 1, the main door 12 is sufficient to close but a portion of the door opening 11. To complete the covering of the door opening, the auxiliary door is placed adjacent the main door. This auxiliary door is of substantially the same construction as the main door and includes parallel rotatable pipes 30, 31. The pipe 30 includes an upper crank 32 and a lower crank 33, with the lower crank secured to a carriage 34. A similar construction is used for the pipe 31 wherein an upper crank 35 and a lower crank 36 attached to a carriage 37 is provided. Control levers 38, 39 are secured by clevises to the rotatable pipes 30, 31 in a manner similar to that illustrated in connection with the main door so that upon rotation of the levers 38, 39, the respective upper and lower cranks of each pipe are rotated to displace the auxiliary door laterally from the door opening thereby permitting longitudinal movement of the door. Upper and lower door stops 40, 41 provide a positioning means for the auxiliary door similar to stops 23, 24 associated with the main door.

Referring more specifically to FIGS. 2, 2A, 2B, 3 and 4, it is believed apparent that the main and auxiliary doors 12 and 13, when in a closed poistion, have their interior surfaces flush with the inside surface of the side wall of the car. This arrangement thus provides a door closure which is adaptable either to the handling of grain or similar products as well as bulky materials in the nature of lumber. Moreover, the flush relationship between the inside of the door and the Walls of the car eliminates the need for special grain doors and the cooperage required in the formation of these doors.

Due to the large opening 11 which is adapted to accommodate the handling of bulk materials and the consequent wide span covered by the doors, it is necessary that adequate means be provided for securing the doors in the closed position without detrimental deflection of the doors due to the interior loads imposed by the lading. The embodiment of FIG. 1 includes several means which aid in the accomplishment of this function. Thus, the cranks 16, 17, 18, 19, 32, 33, 35, and 36 are in a position at right angles to the plane of the door and the side wall of the car when the doors are in the closed position. In this position, the cranks react against the track 22 and the retainer 20 thus providing means directly opposing the internal pressures at the upper and lower edges of each of the doors and thereby preventing deflection of the doors.

However, it is necessary, in addition, to provide some means for preventing deflection of the vertical marginal edges of the doors and, to this end, there are provided on the main door 12 horizontally movable locking members 29, 42. These locking members, as best shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, include crank arms 43a, 43b secured to each of the respective pipes 14, with arms 44, 45 pivotally secured to one end of each of the respective cranks 43a, 43b. The other ends of the arms are pivotally secured to locking bolts 46, 47. The bolts 46, 47 extend through appropriate openings in the respective side edges of the door 12 and are guided by guide means 48. The outer extremity of each of the bolts is adapted to be received in a keeper 4%, 49b in the vertical edge of the adjacent structural member in the wall of the car. In the case of the locking member 42, this adjacent edge constitutes the edge of the door opening 11. However, as to the locking member 29, the adjacent edge is the vertical margin of the auxiliary door 13 and the keeper 49a is formed therein.

A similar arrangement 50 is provided at the left hand margin of the auxiliary door 13, as viewed in FIG. 1.

It is to be noted that with each of the pipes 14, 15 and 30, there is associated a horizontally movable locking member. However, as to pipe 31 on the auxiliary door 13, no horizontal locking member is provided. The reason for this is that many times it is desirable to open only the main door 12 and retain the auxiliary door 13 in a closed position. If a horizontally movable locking member had been included in the right hand side of the auxiliary door 13, it would have been necessary to have the locking member engage with the adjacent vertical margin of the main door 12 and, before the main door could have been opened, it would have been necessary to unlock the auxiliary door. Moreover, it is desirable to provide some means at'the center of the door span for restraining the central portion of the two doors relative to the side wall of the railroad car.

To accomplish this function, there is provided in the embodiment of FIG. 1 an auxiliary locking member, in-

dicated generally by the reference numeral 51. This auxiliary locking member includes vertically movable operating bars 52, 53. The outer extremity of each of the bars is pivotally connected to a locking member 54, 55, with each locking member passing through an associated fixed guide 56. The lower locking member 54 is adapted to cooperate with a keeper 57 attached to the lower door header and, similarly, the upper locking member is adapted to cooperate with a keeper 58 carried by the upper door header.

The operating bars 52, 53 are actuated by the rotatable pipe 31 through a mechanism which is best illustrated in FIG. 5. This mechanism includes a crank arm 59 which is secured to the pipe 31 for rotation therewith. Pivotally secured at 60 to the crank 53 is an operating link 61 which is slidably received in an opening in a bearing plate or housing 62 secured to the auxiliary door 13. A shaft 63 carried by the housing 62 pivotally supports a cam plate 64, with the inner extremities of the operating bars 52, 53 being pivotally connected at 65, 66, respectively, to the cam plate on opposite sides of the shaft 63.

The cam plate 64 includes a cam recess 67 which cooperates with a pin 68 carried by the end of link 61. As is apparent from an inspection of FIGS. 5 and 7, reciprocating movement of the link 61 will, through the interaction of the pin 68 in the recess 67, cause a rocking of the cam plate 64 about the pivot 63. Apertures 69 and '70 in the housing 62 cooperate with the ends of pins 65, 66 to regulate the pivoting action of the cam plate. It is believed apparent that as the cam plate 64 is rocked about its shaft 63, a reciprocating movement is imparted to the operating bars 52 and 53, with a consequent locking or unlocking movement of the locking members 54, 55.

With the above-described mechanism, there is provided means for securing each of the vertical side edges of the main and auxiliary doors to the side wall of the car thereby preventing deflection of the doors due to the internal pressures exerted by the lading. With the arrangement of locks illustrated in FIG. 1, it is possible to open the main door 12 without opening the auxiliary door 13. This is accomplished by rotation of the levers 2'5 and 26 which retract the horizontal locking members 29, '42 from their engagement with their respective keepers and permits lateral displacement of the door out of the opening. 'Before the auxiliary door 13 may be opened, however, it is necessary that the pipe 14 on the main door be actuated. This is due to the interconnection of the main door with the auxiliary door through the horizontal locking member 29 and the overlapping relation of the adjacent edges of the doors as shown in FIG. 2A. The auxiliary lock mechanism 51 provides a means of stabilizing the edge of the auxiliary door but does not require actuation of additional mechanism. Thus, by connecting the locking mechanism 51 to the rotatable pipe 31 in the manner above described, the levers 38, 39 are the only mechanisms which need be operated to accomplish the opening movement of the auxiliary door 13.

It is important to note that, with the upper and lower cranks on each of the rotatable pipes 14, 15, 30, 31 in a position at right angles to the door when the door is in the closed position, it is possible to actuate both the horizontal locking members 29, 42, 50 and the auxiliary locking members 51 directly from the rotatable pipes. Thus, with the cranks at right angles to the doors, initial rotation of the pipes efiects only a slight lateral withdrawal of the doors from the door opening as compared to the amount of pipe rotation. The result is that the locking members are withdrawn from their respective keepers during the initial pipe rotation when the lateral door travel is at a minimum so that the door is unlocked prior to the cranks reaching a position of rotation wherein lateral door displacement is at a maximum. Thus, in effect, the position of the cranks constitute a timing means which determines the sequence of operation for the locking members.

If the cranks on the pipes are in a position other than 90 to the plane of the door when the door is in the closed position, a different arrangement must be used to actuate the horizontal locking members and the auxiliary locking members. Thus, as shown in the modification of FIG. 8, the main and auxiliary doors include cranks which, when the door is in the closed position, are substantially parallel to the plane of the door. The door is displaced laterally from the door opening by rotation of the pipes in the manner described above and, as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 8, rotation is imparted to the door 75 by an actuating mechanism, indicated generally by the reference numeral 76. This mechanism includes segmental gears 77 and an actuating or operating handle 78 which is in driving engagement with the segmental gears. Upon rotation of the handle 78, the segmental gears are rotated thereby actuating the pipes through an appropriate linkage such as that illustrated at 79.

The door 75 is locked along its vertical edges by horizontally movable locking members which are similar to those described above. Thus, one such locking member includes an operating bar 80 which is secured to a lock bolt 81, with the lock bolt being receivable in a keeper 82 carried by the adjacent edge of the door 83.

Along the vertical margin of the door 75, there is provided an auxiliary locking mechanism similar to the previously-described mechanism in the embodiment of FIG. 1. The mechanism of FIG. 8 includes connecting rods 84, 85 which are pivotally connected at their respective extremities to locking bolts 86, 87. The locking bolts in turn are receivable in keepers carried by the upper and lower door headers.

Reciprocating movement is imparted to the locking bolts 86, 87 by a mechanism indicated generally by the reference numeral 88. This mechanism includes a housing 89 which supports a pin 90. Pivotally mounted on the pin 90 is a toggle plate 91 which is connected at opposite sides of the pin 90 to the inner ends of connecting rods 84, 85. From a review of FIG. 8, it is believed to be apparent that blocking movement of the toggle plate 91 will effect a corresponding reciprocation of the connecting rods 84, 85 thereby to extend or retract the locking bolts 86, 87.

Rocking movement is imparted to the plate 91 by a horizontally movable member 92 connected at one end to the plate. A pin 93' secured to the plate 91 is received in an arcuate groove 94 formed in the housing 89 for controlling the pivoting movement of the plate 91 about the pin 90. The other end of the horizontally movable member 92 is connected to a bell crank 93. The bell crank is, in turn, pivotally mounted on the door 75 and has one end secured to a vertically reciprocating bar 112. The bar 112 is also connected through a bell crank 95 to the operating bar 80 whereby simultaneous horizontal movement is imparted to both of the members 80 and 92. Reciprocation of the vertical member 112 is controlled by a cam 96 secure-d to one of the segmental gears 77 and a follower 97.

It is believed apparent that from the mechanism described, operation of the handle 78 will, through the linkage 79, effect rotation of the pipes mounting the door on the railroad car. Simultaneously with this rotation of the pipes is the vertical movement of the bar 112 which effects a horizontal displacement of the members 80, 92. As member 80 is displaced, the locking bolt 81 is withdrawn from the keeper 82. In a similar fashion, as the member 92 is horizontally moved, a corresponding vertical movement is imparted to the connecting rods 84, 85 causing a withdrawal of the locking bolts 86, 87 from their respective keepers. To assure the proper unlocking of the door prior to any substantial lateral displacement of the door from the opening, the cam 96 is so configured that a relatively rapid withdrawal of the 6 locking members is effected during the initial rotation of handle 78.

Turning to the modification shown in FIG. 9, a mechanism substantially similar to that shown in FIG. 8 is illustrated. Thus, the cranks mounting the door on the car are, in closed position of the door, substantially parallel to the plane of the side wall of the railroad car. An operating handle 98 is provided to actuate an operating gear 99 which, in turn, effects movement of linkages 100 to rotate the pipes. A cam surface 101 is formed on the gear 99 and cooperates with a follower 102 to impart vertical movement to a vertically reciprocable bar 103. The bar 103 is connected by bell cranks 104 to a horizontally movable operating bar 105.

The bar 105, at its opposite end, is connected to an auxiliary locking member indicated generally by the reference numeral 106. This mechanism includes a housing 107 in which there is mounted a pair of bell cranks 108a, 1081:. The cranks 108a, 108k are connected to rods 109a, 10917 respectively. Lock bolts 110 are attached to the outer extremities of each of the connecting rods and the lock bolts cooperate with keepers on the door headers in the manner above described. The horizontally movable bar further includes a lock bolt 111 at one extremity thereof, which bolt is adapted to cooperate with a keeper in the adjacent edge portion of the adjacent door.

As in the previous two embodiments, there is provided a timing mechanism to control the locking operation relative to the movements of the door. Thus, in the embodiment of FIG. 9, cam surface 101 provides a timing mechanism so that the locking bolts, both the horizontally movable and the auxiliary vertically movable locks, are withdrawn prior to any substantial lateral displacement of the door proper.

It is believed apparent that the objects set forth above have been accomplished by the provision of an auxiliary locking mechanism which is associated with and integrated into the mechanism ordinarily found on a railroad car door. Each of the auxiliary locking devices disclosed herein is carried by one of a pair of doors and includes vertically movable locking members which are actuated from the control mechanism generally associated with the doors. Additional modifications and changes will suggest themselves to those having ordinary skill in the art. Changes such as these are contemplated by the principles of this invention so that, although for ease of description, the principles of the invention have been set forth in connection with but a few illustrated embodiments, it is not intended that these illustrated embodiments or the terminology employed in describing them is to be limiting; but rather, it is my desire to be restricted only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a railroad car having a side wall with a wide door opening formed therein;

a main door mounted on the wall for longitudinal sliding movement;

an auxiliary door mounted on the door for longitudinal sliding movement;

each of said doors being of a dimension such that neither door individually will fully cover the wide door opening;

means mounting said auxiliary and main doors on said wall for lateral movement into and out of said opening;

said doors when disposed in the door opening being substantially flush with the inside surface of said side wall;

manually operable means carried by each of said doors for actuating said mounting means;

locking means carried by each of said doors and being operable to secure said doors in said opening;

said locking means including horizontally movable locking bolts adapted to engage the vertical sides of 7 said wall defining said wide door opening and a horizontal locking bolt carried by one of said doors interconnecting the adjacent vertical edges of said doors when said doors are disposed in said opening; said locking means further including vertically movable locking means carried by one of said doors adjacent to said one edge thereof;

and linkagge means interconnecting said locking means and said manually operable means whereby said locking means are extended and retracted substantially simultaneously with the lateral movement of said doors.

2. In a railroad car having a side wall with a wide door opening formed therein;

first and second doors;

means mounting said doors on said wall for longitudinal sliding movement therealong;

said mounting means including a pair of rotatable pipes secured to each of said doors;

each of said doors being of a dimension such that neither door individually will fully cover the Wide door opening;

crank means on each of said pipes and associated with said wall whereby said doors may be displaced laterally into and out of said opening;

manually operable means carried by each of said doors for actuating said rotatable pipes; locking means carried by each of said doors and being operable to secure said doors in said opening;

said locking means including horizontally movable locking bolts adapted to engage the vertical sides of said wall defining said wide door opening and horizontal locking bolts carried by one of said doors interconnecting the adjacent vertical edges of said doors when said doors are disposed in said opening;

and linkage means interconnecting said locking means and said manually operable means whereby said locking means are extended and retracted substantially simultaneously with the lateral movement of said doors. 3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said locking means further includes vertically movable locking means carried by one of said doors adjacent said one edge thereof.

4. The combination of claim 3 and including a housing secured to said one of said doors;

said vertically movable locking means extending into said housing;

said linkage means extending into said housing and being interconnected with said vertically movable locking means therein.

5. The combination of claim 3 wherein said linkage means includes crank arm means secured to said rotatable &

pipes and an operating link interconnecting said crank arm means with said locking means.

6. The combination of claim 3 and further including timing means associated with said manually operable means whereby said locking means are retracted during the initial lateral withdrawal of said doors from the door opening.

7. The combination of claim 4 wherein said linkage means further includes plate means pivotally mounted in said housing;

said vertically movable locking means comprising a pair of oppositely directed upper and lower locking bolts;

the inner ends of each of said locking bolts being operatively connected with said plate means whereby rocking movement of said plate means causes reciprocation of said locking bolts; and

an operating linkage .operatively connecting said manually operable means with said plate means whereby actuation of'said manually operable means causes a corresponding pivoting movement of said plate means.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said operating linkage includes a crank arm secured to one of said rotatable pipes and an operating link interconnecting said crank arm with said plate means.

9. The combination of claim 4 wherein said linkage means further includes crank means pivotally mounted in said housing;

said vertically movable locking means comprising a pair of oppositely directed upper and lower locking bolts;

the inner ends of each of said locking bolts being operatively connected to said pivotal crank means whereby pivoting of said crank means causes reciprocation of said locking bolts; and

means operatively connecting said manually operable means with said pivotal crank means whereby actuation of said manually operable means causes a corresponding pivoting movement of said crank means.

10. The combination of claim 9 wherein said latter mentioned means includes a horizontally movable bar extending into said housing .and operatively connected r with said pivotal crank means;

References (liter! by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1963 Soddy 2023 4/1964 Uphues et al. 2023 REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A RAILROAD CAR HAVING A SIDE WALL WITH A WIDE DOOR OPENING FORMED THEREIN; A MAIN DOOR MOUNTED ON THE WALL FOR LONGITUDINAL SLIDING MOVEMENT; AN AUXILIARY DOOR MOUNTED ON THE DOOR FOR LONGITUDINAL SLIDING MOVEMENT; EACH OF SAID DOORS BEING OF A DIMENSION SUCH THAT NEITHER DOOR INDIVIDUALLY WILL FULLY COVER THE WIDE DOOR OPENING; MEANS MOUNTING SAID AUXILIARY AND MAIN DOORS ON SAID WALL FOR LATERAL MOVEMENT INTO AND OUT OF SAID OPENING; SAID DOORS WHEN DISPOSED IN THE DOOR OPENING BEING SUBSTANTIALLY FLUSH WITH THE INSIDE SURFACE OF SAID SIDE WALL; MANUALLY OPERABLE MEANS CARRIED BY EACH OF SAID DOORS FOR ACTUATING SAID MOUNTING MEANS; LOCKING MEANS CARRIED BY EACH OF SAID DOORS AND BEING OPERABLE OT SECURE SAID DOORS IN SAID OPENING; SAID LOCKING MEANS INCLUDING HORIZONTALLY MOVABLE LOCKING BOLTS ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE VERTICAL SIDES OF SAID WALL DEFINING SAID WIDE DOOR OPENING AND A HORIZONTAL LOCKING BOLT CARRIED BY ONE OF SAID DOORS INTERCONNECTING THE ADJACENT VERTICAL EDGES OF SAID DOORS WHEN SAID DOORS ARE DISPOSED IN SAID OPENING; SAID LOCKING MEANS FURTHER INCLUDING VERTICALLY MOVABLE LOCKING MEANS CARRIED BY ONE OF SAID DOORS ADJACNET TO SAID ONE EDGE THEREOF; AND LINKAGGE MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID LOCKING MEANS AND SAID MANUALLY OPERABLE MEANS WHEREBY SAID LOCKING MEANS ARE EXTENDED AND RETRACTED SUBSTANTIALLY SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE LATERAL MOVEMENT OF SAID DOORS. 